Methods for fabricating integrated circuits

ABSTRACT

Methods are provided for fabricating integrated circuits. One method includes etching a plurality of trenches into a silicon substrate and filling the trenches with an insulating material to delineate a plurality of spaced apart silicon fins. A layer of undoped silicon is epitaxially grown to form an upper, undoped region of the fins. Dummy gate structures are formed overlying and transverse to the plurality of fins and a back fill material fills between the dummy gate structures. The dummy gate structures are removed to expose a portion of the fins and a high-k dielectric material and a work function determining gate electrode material are deposited overlying the portion of the fins. The back fill material is removed to expose a second portion and metal silicide contacts are formed on the second portion. Conductive contacts are then formed to the work function determining material and to the metal silicide.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to methods for fabricatingintegrated circuits, and more particularly relates to methods forfabricating integrated circuits having undoped channel regions and selfaligned contacts.

BACKGROUND

Transistors such as metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors(MOSFETs) or simply field effect transistors (FETs) or MOS transistorsare the core building blocks of the vast majority of semiconductorintegrated circuits (ICs). A FET includes source and drain regionsbetween which a current can flow through a channel under the influenceof a bias applied to a gate electrode that overlies the channel. Somesemiconductor ICs, such as high performance microprocessors, can includemillions of FETs. For such ICs, decreasing transistor size and thusincreasing transistor density has traditionally been a high priority inthe semiconductor manufacturing industry. Transistor performance,however, must be maintained even as the transistor size decreases.

A FINFET is a type of transistor that lends itself to the dual goals ofreducing transistor size while maintaining transistor performance. TheFINFET is a three dimensional transistor formed in a thin fin thatextends upwardly from a semiconductor substrate. Transistor performance,often measured by its transconductance, is proportional to the width ofthe transistor channel. In a FINFET the transistor channel is formed atleast along the vertical sidewalls of the fin, so a wide channel, andhence high performance, can be achieved without substantially increasingthe area of the substrate surface required by the transistor.

Even with FINFETs, however, reducing device size and hence reducingfeature size introduces fabrication problems. Such problems includeadverse short channel effects as the gate length shrinks and theattendant variation in threshold voltage (basically the minimum gatevoltage necessary to turn a transistor “ON”) from random dopantfluctuations in the channel. Threshold variations, in turn, lead toproblems with unmatched transistors. One solution is to fabricatetransistors with undoped channels, but fabricating such transistors isdifficult, especially with devices formed on a bulk semiconductor waferand especially when FINFETs are intermixed in an integrated circuit withplanar MOSFETs. FINFETs and planar MOSFETs have differentcharacteristics and each possesses certain strengths. To be able to useboth in a circuit design allows the circuit designer to take advantageof the strengths of each type of device.

Another problem that is encountered in the fabrication of MOSFETintegrated circuits as the device size shrinks is the correct placementof contacts, for example the contacts to the source and drains ofindividual transistors. As the pitch (the spacing from gate to gate)decreases below a certain dimension, it is important to have a selfaligning method for positioning the contacts. In order to reduce seriesresistance it is also important to form silicided contacts to the sourceand drain regions. Metal silicides must not be subjected to hightemperatures, so the silicided contacts, including self alignedsilicided contacts must be formed after most of the high temperatureprocessing steps.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods for fabricatingintegrated circuits that include both FINFETs and planar MOSFETs. Inaddition, it is desirable to provide methods for fabricating MOSFETintegrated circuits with undoped channel regions. It is also desirableto provide methods for fabricating integrated circuits with self alignedcontacts. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics ofthe present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detaileddescription and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Methods are provided for fabricating integrated circuits, especiallyintegrated circuits having undoped channels and self aligned contacts.One method includes etching a plurality of trenches into a siliconsubstrate and filling the trenches with an insulating material todelineate a plurality of spaced apart silicon fins. A layer of undopedsilicon is epitaxially grown to form an upper, undoped region of thefins. Dummy gate structures are formed overlying and transverse to theplurality of fins and a back fill material fills between the dummy gatestructures. The dummy gate structures are removed to expose a portion ofthe fins and a high-k dielectric material and a work functiondetermining gate electrode material are deposited overlying the portionof the fins. The back fill material is removed to expose a secondportion and metal silicide contacts are formed on the second portion.Conductive contacts are then formed to the work function determiningmaterial and to the metal silicide.

In accordance with a further embodiment a method for fabricating anintegrated circuit includes forming a first device area and a seconddevice area in a bulk silicon substrate, the first device area separatedfrom the second device area by shallow trench isolation. The firstdevice area is divided into a plurality of spaced apart silicon finsseparated by a shallow trench isolation insulator. A layer of undopedchannel silicon is epitaxially grown overlying portions of the firstdevice area and the second device area and a first dummy gate is formedoverlying and transverse to the fins and a second dummy gate is formedoverlying the second device area. Dummy contacts are formed that arespaced apart from and adjacent the first dummy gate and the second dummygate. The first dummy gate and the second dummy gate are removed and theshallow trench isolation insulator is etched to expose a portion of thefins. A layer of gate dielectric material and a layer of work functiondetermining material are deposited overlying the undoped channel siliconand the dummy contacts are removed to expose portions of the fins and ofthe second device area. Metal silicide is formed contacting the exposedportions and electrical contacts are formed to the layer of workfunction material and to the metal silicide.

In accordance with yet another embodiment a method for fabricating asilicon integrated circuit includes forming shallow trench isolation todefine an area of a silicon substrate. Dummy gate structures are formedoverlying the area and defining a channel in the area. Sidewall spacersare formed on the dummy gate structures and spin on glass material isdeposited between the dummy gate structures. The dummy gate structuresare removed using the spin on glass material as an etch mask and a layerof high-k gate insulator and a capping layer are deposited overlying thechannel. The spin on glass is removed to expose source and drain regionsadjacent to and spaced apart from the channel. Metal silicide contactsare formed to the source and drain regions and work function determiningmaterial is deposited overlying the high-k gate insulator. Metal isdeposited to contact the metal silicide contacts and the work functiondetermining material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction withthe following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote likeelements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a FINFET in a partially cut away perspective view.

FIGS. 2-20 illustrate methods for fabricating integrated circuits inaccordance with various embodiments. FIGS. 5 and 11 illustrate theintegrated circuit in plan view; FIGS. 2-4, 6-10, and 12-20 illustratethe integrated circuit in cross sectional view.

FIGS. 21-22, together with FIGS. 2, 4-11 and 12-20 illustrate, in crosssectional view methods for fabricating an integrated circuit inaccordance with further embodiments.

FIGS. 23-27 illustrate, in cross sectional view, methods for fabricatingan integrated circuit in accordance with yet further embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and isnot intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of theinvention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by anyexpressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field,background, brief summary or the following detailed description.

Integrated circuits (ICs) can be designed with millions of transistors.Many ICs are designed using metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors,also known as field effect transistors (FETs) or MOSFETs. Although theterm “MOS transistor” properly refers to a device having a metal gateelectrode and an oxide gate insulator, that term will be used throughoutto refer to any semiconductor device that includes a conductive gateelectrode (whether metal or other conductive material) that ispositioned over a gate insulator (whether oxide or other insulator)which, in turn, is positioned over a semiconductor substrate. MOStransistors used in the design of ICs can be either planar MOStransistors or FINFETs, with each type of device having certain uniqueadvantages and disadvantages. Both types of MOS transistors can befabricated as P-channel transistors and as N-channel transistors, andboth can be fabricated with or without mobility enhancing stressfeatures. A circuit designer can mix and match device types, usingP-channel and N-channel, planar MOS and FINFET, stressed and unstressed,to take advantage of the best characteristics of each device type asthey best suit the circuit being designed.

Planar MOS transistors are well known, and so their features need not beexplained. FINFETs are less well known, so the following briefexplanation is provided to identify their unique features. FIG. 1illustrates, in a cut away perspective view, a portion of a FINFETintegrated circuit (IC) 100. The illustrated portion of IC 100 includestwo fins 102 and 104 that are formed from and extend upwardly from abulk semiconductor substrate 106. A gate electrode 108 overlies the twofins and is electrically insulated from the fins by a gate insulator(not illustrated). End 110 of fin 102 is appropriately impurity doped toform the source of a field effect transistor 112 and end 114 of that finis appropriately impurity doped to form the drain of the FET. Similarly,ends 116 and 118 of fin 104 form the source and drain, respectively, ofanother FET 120. The illustrated portion of IC 100 thus includes twoFINFETs 112 and 120 having a common gate electrode. In anotherconfiguration, if source 110 and 116 are electrically coupled togetherand drains 114 and 118 are electrically coupled together the structurewould be a two-fin FINFET having twice the gate width of either FET 112or 120. Oxide layer 122 forms electrical isolation between fins andbetween adjacent devices as is needed for the circuit being implemented.The channel of FINFET 112 extends along the sidewall 124 of fin 102beneath gate electrode 108, along the top 125 of the fin, as well asalong the opposite sidewall not visible in this perspective view. Theadvantage of the FINFET structure is that although the fin has only thenarrow width represented by the arrows 126, the channel has a widthrepresented by at least twice the height of the fin above oxide 122. Thechannel width thus can be much greater than fin width.

FIGS. 2-20 will illustrate methods for fabricating an integrated circuit200 in accordance with various embodiments. FIGS. 21-22 illustrate afurther embodiment, and FIGS. 23-27 illustrate yet further embodiments.The described process steps, procedures, and materials are to beconsidered only as exemplary embodiments designed to illustrate to oneof ordinary skill in the art methods for practicing the invention; theinvention is not to be limited to these exemplary embodiments. Theillustrated portion of IC 200 includes only a single FINFET 202 and asingle planar MOS transistor 204, although those of skill in the artwill recognize that an actual IC could include a large number of suchtransistors. FINFET 202 is similar to FINFETs 112 and 120 describedabove. The initial steps described below relate specifically to thefabrication of P-channel transistors 202 and 204, but the processingsteps also can be used to fabricate N-channel transistors alone or incombination with P-channel transistors. Various steps in the manufactureof ICs are well known and so, in the interest of brevity, manyconventional steps will only be mentioned briefly herein or will beomitted entirely without providing the well known process details.

FIG. 2 illustrates, in plan view, a portion of integrated circuit 200 atan early stage of fabrication. The illustrated portion includes a devicearea 206 in which FINFETs such as FINFET 202 will be fabricated and adevice area 208 in which a planar MOS transistor such as transistor 204will be fabricated. IC 200 is fabricated on a bulk semiconductor wafer210 (illustrated in subsequent FIGURES). An insulating material 212separates, delineates, and electrically isolates the two device areas.The insulating material can be, for example, part of a shallow trenchisolation (STI). STI, as is well known, includes a trench that is etchedinto wafer 210 and is subsequently filled with an oxide or otherinsulating material. Insulating material 212 also extends across devicearea 206 to delineate a plurality of spaced apart silicon fins 214. Thefins are formed by the formation of the STI, but they are not revealedat this point in the processing. The fins are revealed later as isexplained below. The width and height of the fins can be adjusted basedon the needs of the circuit being implemented. The fins can be, forexample, about 5-50 nanometers (nm) in width and about 5-50 nm inheight. Preferably the height and width are paired such that arelatively tall fin is relatively thin and a relatively short fin iswide where “tall” and “short”, “thin” and “wide” are relative termswithin the broad range of exemplary dimensions. This pairing of heightand width allows the gates to fully deplete.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates, in cross section taken along line X-Xin FIG. 2, initial method steps in accordance with one embodiment forfabricating IC 200. FIG. 3 illustrates only a portion of device area 206and of FINFET 202. Similar processing will also apply to device area 208and to planar MOS transistor 204 unless otherwise noted. Following theformation of the STI 212, conductivity determining dopant impurities areimplanted into bulk semiconductor wafer 210 to form a doped well 216.Bulk semiconductor wafer 210 can be silicon, silicon admixed withgermanium or carbon, or other semiconductor materials commonly used inthe fabrication of integrated circuits, but for simplicity will hereinbe referred to simply as a silicon substrate. Doped well 216 will bedoped with N-type dopant impurities such as arsenic or phosphorus tofabricate a P-channel FINFET and will be doped with P-type dopantimpurities such as boron to fabricate an N-channel FINFET. Areas thatare not to be implanted during the well implant step can be masked, forexample, with a patterned layer of photoresist. Multiple implants may beused to tailor the implant dose and dopant profile. As also illustratedin FIG. 3, an undoped epitaxial layer of channel silicon 218 is grownoverlying the doped well. The undoped silicon in the channel of thetransistor helps to overcome short channel effects and thresholdvariations across the IC. Achieving an undoped layer in conventionalmanner is difficult because of implant straggle and out-diffusion fromthe doped well during subsequent thermal processing. In accordance withone embodiment the undoped channel is successfully achieved by firstepitaxially growing a layer 220 of silicon doped with carbon that isknown to block the diffusion of boron and arsenic. During growth oflayer 220 the reactants can be adjusted to add carbon in the amount ofabout 0.3% to the grown layer. A carbon doped layer having a thicknessof about 10 nm is sufficient to substantially block out-diffusion fromthe doped well region. Undoped layer 218 is grown to a thickness atleast equal to the intended height of the active fin. In thejust-described embodiment the STI is formed first, then the wells aredoped, and then the epitaxial layers are grown. Although notillustrated, in an alternate embodiment, alignment marks are etched inthe surface of the wafer, well regions are implanted, the epitaxiallayers are grown, and then the STI is formed. This embodiment has theadvantage that the epitaxial layers are grown on a flat surface withoutpattern loading effects.

The method continues as illustrated in FIG. 4 by the deposition of adummy gate oxide layer 222, a layer of silicon germanium (SiGe) 224, anda capping layer 226. Each of the layers can be deposited, for example,by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), low pressure chemical vapordeposition (LPCVD), or plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition(PECVD). Layer 222 can be, for example, a layer of silicon oxide havinga thickness of 1.5-2 nm, layer 224 can be a layer of amorphous silicongermanium having a thickness of 50-60 nm, and capping layer 226 can be alayer of silicon nitride having a thickness of about 40 nm. Instead ofbeing deposited, dummy gate oxide layer 222 can be thermally grown.Layers 226, 224, and 222 are photolithographically patterned and etchedto form dummy gate structures 228 and 230. After forming dummy gatestructures 228 and 230, sidewall spacers 232 are formed on the sidewallsof the dummy gate structures. Similar structures are formed overlyingdevice area 208. FIG. 5 illustrates, in plan view, IC 200 after theformation of the dummy gate structures and sidewall spacers.

The mobility of majority carriers in the channel of an MOS transistorcan be enhanced by applying a stress to the channel. A compressivelongitudinal stress applied to the channel of a P-channel MOS transistorincreases the mobility of holes in the channel. Similarly, a tensilelongitudinal stress applied to the channel of an N-channel MOStransistor increases the mobility of electrons in the channel. Acompressive stress can be applied to the channel by embedding acrystalline material having a lattice constant greater than the latticeconstant of the silicon in the host well region and, correspondingly, atensile stress can be applied by embedding a crystalline material havinga smaller lattice constant. Silicon germanium is one crystallinematerial having a greater lattice constant than silicon and siliconcarbon is one crystalline material having a smaller lattice constantthan silicon. If FINFET 202 is to be fabricated with stress enhancedmobility, the method in accordance with one embodiment proceeds asillustrated in FIG. 6. Trenches 240 indicated by the dashed line areetched into well region 216 using dummy gate structures 228 and 230 andtheir associated sidewall spacers 232 as an etch mask. Although thetrench ideally has straight vertical walls aligned with the edges of thesidewall spacers, the etchant preferentially etches more rapidly alongcertain crystalline planes than along other planes resulting in anirregularly shaped trench. The trench is then filled by the selectiveepitaxial growth of stress inducing material 241 such as SiGe for aP-channel transistor and silicon carbon for an N-channel transistor. Thetrench is filled with SiGe or silicon carbon that is undoped withconductivity determining impurities. In accordance with one embodimentthe epitaxial growth is continued to grow silicon 242 above the originalsurface of epitaxial layer 218. Silicon 242 is doped with conductivitydetermining impurities such as boron for a P-channel transistor andphosphorus or arsenic for an N-channel transistor. This excess materialeventually forms raised source and drain structures and, for the FINFET,forms impurity doped source and drain extensions. The source and drainextensions are self aligned to the dummy gate 228 and the raised portionprovides additional silicon for the source and drain contacts. Again,because of the nature of the crystalline host material and the irregularshape of the trench, the resulting epitaxially grown material results ina non-planar upper surface. The same embedding of a stress inducingmaterial can be carried out on planar MOS transistor 204.

In the structure illustrated, dummy gate structure 228 serves as a placeholder for an active gate that is to be formed by a replacement gateprocess as described below. Dummy gate structures 230 are known as STItuck-under dummy gates. They will be replaced by tiling gates in thefinal device structure. Tiling gates serve to establish a substantiallyuniform density of features across the IC which aids in obtaininguniform processing such as during planarization steps. The tuck-underdummy gates help to provide uniform etching of trenches 240 at thewell-STI boundary. In the absence of these dummy gates, faceting of thegrown embedded material might or might not occur, depending uponalignment, resulting in variations in the applied stress which, in turn,results in variations in mobility and hence in drive current.

Although not illustrated in any of the FIGURES to avoid confusing thedrawings, source and drain regions are formed in the conventional mannerby the implantation of conductivity determining ions. For example, onthe planar transistor source and drain extensions and halo regions canbe implanted before the formation of sidewall spacers 232. Deep sourceand drain regions can be implanted into and through the stress inducingmaterial 242. The P-channel source and drains can be formed byimplanting boron ions. The N-channel source and drains can be formed byimplanting arsenic or phosphorus ions. The ions are implanted into thefins and into the planar MOS transistor using the dummy gate structuresas ion implantation masks so as to self align the source and drainregions to the gate and underlying channel. In the FINFET, source anddrain regions can be formed by ion implantation only in FINFETS havingrelatively short fins because of the limited range of implanted ions. Onrelatively tall fins the source and drain extensions are provided by thedoped portion of the embedded epitaxial layers with the raised portionsforming extra source and drain to contact.

The method for fabricating IC 200 proceeds as illustrated in FIG. 7. Alayer of etch stop material 244 is deposited overlying the dummy gatestructures and raised source and drain regions. The layer of etch stopmaterial can be, for example, a thin layer of silicon nitride having athickness of about 4-5 nm that is deposited by plasma enhanced atomiclayer deposition (PEALD). For ease of illustration this and thefollowing FIGURES are simplified by showing the raised source and drainregions as flat and not irregularly shaped. The layer of etch stopmaterial is polished back, for example by CMP, and a top portion of caplayer 226 is removed. A layer of amorphous silicon 246 is deposited overthe etch stop material and the remaining cap layer. The amorphoussilicon back fills the space between sidewall spacers 232 on thesidewalls of dummy gate structures 228 and 230.

The layer of amorphous silicon is planarized, for example by CMP, withthe planarization stopping on the remaining portion of cap layer 246 asillustrated in FIG. 8. The remaining amorphous silicon 248 serves as aself aligned dummy contact or as a dummy back fill, self aligned andspaced apart from the dummy gate structure. Using two different dummystructures, formed as has been explained, self aligned to each other,allows the formation of source and drain contacts self aligned to gates.In this embodiment silicon germanium has been selected for the materialof dummy gate structures 228 and 230 and silicon has been selected forthe material of dummy back fill 248 because the two have different etchcharacteristics. Other materials having such different etchcharacteristics could also be selected.

The method for fabricating integrated circuit 200 continues by removingthe remaining portion of cap layer 226 to expose amorphous silicongermanium 224 of dummy gate structures 228 and 230 as illustrated inFIG. 9. The cap layer is removed in an etchant that is selective anddoes not etch the silicon or silicon germanium. The amorphous silicongermanium can then be removed as indicated in cross section in FIG. 10and as illustrated in plan view in FIG. 11. Silicon germanium can beetched in a mixture of ammonium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide. Thisetchant removes silicon germanium but does not etch silicon.

The method in accordance with one embodiment continues as illustrated inFIGS. 12 and 13. FIG. 13 is a cross sectional view taken along the lineY-Y in FIG. 2. A photoresist mask layer 250 is applied and patterned toprotect planar device area 208 while exposing FINFET device area 206.With mask layer 250 in place, STI insulation layer 212 is etched backaround fins 214 to reveal a top portion 314 of the fins indicated by thedotted lines 313 in FIG. 12. In this embodiment the exposed top portion314, the gate wrap-around, corresponds to the undoped epitaxial layer218. The undoped channel of the FINFET will be formed in this gatewrap-around area. Although formed early in the fabrication of the IC,the fins are not revealed until late in the processing by the etching ofSTI 212. Late revealing to the fins is possible because dummy contactstructures 248 are in place after the removal of dummy gate structures228 and 230. Revealing the fins only at this late stage in theprocessing has allowed all the prior processing steps to be carried outon a substantially planar upper surface of the semiconductor wafer. Ifthe fins are revealed early, as is conventional, processing must be donein three dimensions which is much more difficult.

As illustrated in FIG. 14 the method continues by removing patternedphotoresist layer 250, cleaning the exposed surface of the fins, anddepositing a high dielectric constant (high-k) gate insulator layer 252,a cap layer of, for example, TiN 254, and a layer of work functiondetermining material 256. For ease of illustration this and followingFIGURES have been simplified by omitting the gate wrap-around. For aP-channel MOS transistor the work function determining material 256 canbe, for example, titanium nitride. A different work function determiningmaterial such as titanium aluminum nitride will be used on the N-channelMOS transistors.

FIGS. 15-20 illustrate continuing steps in the fabrication of IC 200. Inthese FIGURES, still showing a cross sectional view through a fin 214along line X-X in FIG. 2, steps in the fabrication of an N-channelFINFET 304 are illustrated on the left and steps in the fabrication of aP-channel FINFET 202 are illustrated on the right. As illustrated inFIG. 15, the TiN is removed from the N-channel FINFET and the workfunction determining material 256 is etched back on the P-channelFINFET. In accordance with one embodiment the removal of TiN from theN-channel FINFET can be accomplished by forming a patterned maskinglayer (not illustrated) such as a patterned layer of spin on glassoverlying the P-channel FINFET followed by etching the TiN. The layer ofspin on glass can then be etched back to leave a portion of reducedthickness only in the gate areas that were vacated by the earlierremoval of the amorphous silicon germanium. The reduced thickness ofspin on glass is then used as an etch mask to remove any work functiondetermining material 256 except that in the P-channel gate areas, nowlabeled 258. A layer of work function determining material 259 such asTiAlN is deposited overlying the N-channel FINFET 304.

As illustrated in FIG. 16 a layer of spin on glass is applied and etchedback to leave spin on glass 260 only in the gate areas. The spin onglass is used as an etch mask and the work function metal outside thegate areas is removed. An etchant such as hydrogen peroxide etches thework function determining material but stops on the high-k dielectricmaterial 252.

In accordance with one embodiment additional spin on glass is appliedand etched back to the high-k dielectric layer 252. The exposed portionsof the high-k dielectric layer are etched, for example in a BCl₃etchant. The remaining portion 262 of spin on glass is used as an etchmask and dummy back fill silicon 248 is removed from the source anddrain contact areas as illustrated in FIG. 17.

The method for fabricating IC 200 continues as illustrated in FIG. 18 byremoving the thin etch stop layer 244 from the bottom of the contactareas. The etch stop layer can be removed, for example, by ananisotropic etchant, leaving the etch stop layer along sidewalls 232.After cleaning the surface of the exposed silicon in the contact areas,a layer of silicide forming metal such as nickel is deposited andannealed to react the metal with silicon to form metal silicide contacts268 to the source and drain regions. The annealing temperature used toform the silicide is lower than temperatures encountered in previousprocessing steps. It is advantageous to form the silicide at a latestage in the processing to avoid deleterious effects on the silicidethat would result from the higher processing temperatures. The silicideforming metal that is not in contact with silicon does not react and canbe removed, for example in a wet acid etchant. Following the removal ofthe unreacted metal, the spin on glass 262 is also removed selective toother oxide material present on the substrate. Glass 262 can be removedby first oxidizing the glass to form a poor quality oxide which etchesselectively to better quality oxides.

A metal gate electrode 270 contacting work function determining metals258 and 259 and source and drain contacts 272 contacting the metalsilicide contacts 268 are formed as illustrated in FIG. 19. A titaniumwetting layer (not illustrated) may first be deposited followed by alayer of, for example, aluminum admixed with a small amount ofgermanium. Adding 1-2% of germanium to the aluminum reduces the meltingpoint of the alloy significantly, allowing the alloy to be reflowed intosmall recesses. The aluminum is planarized, for example by CMP. Thesequential removal of first dummy gate structures 228 and 230 and thenthe removal of dummy contact structures 248, the latter made possible bythe use of the spin on glass, allows the gate and contacts to bemetallized at the same time and with the same material.

An inter-layer dielectric (ILD) 274 is deposited overlying metal gateelectrode 270 and source and drain contacts 272 as illustrated in FIG.20. The ILD can be a deposited oxide, nitride, other insulatingmaterial, or combinations of insulating materials. The top surface ofILD 274 is planarized and vias are etched through the ILD to exposeportions of the source and drain contacts. Metal plugs 276 are formed inthe vias in conventional manner as is interconnect metallization andother back end of line processing.

In accordance with an alternate embodiment the carbon doped and undopedepitaxial layers described and illustrated in FIG. 3 are not formed.Instead, after the doping of well regions 216 the method proceeds asillustrated in FIGS. 4-11. After removing the silicon germanium dummygate electrode structure 224 and the dummy gate oxide 222, the exposedsilicon in the gate areas is etched to form a trench 324 as illustratedin FIG. 21. An undoped silicon channel region 326 is grown in trench 324by a process of selective epitaxial growth of undoped silicon asillustrated in FIG. 22.

Following the growth of undoped silicon channel 326, the method proceedsin the same manner as in FIGS. 12-20. The first of these steps, asillustrated in FIG. 12, is to etch the STI insulator to expose a topportion of fins 214 including the undoped silicon channel region 326.The planar transistor is protected by an etch mask during this etchstep.

FIGS. 23-27 illustrate yet a further alternate embodiment forfabricating an integrated circuit 400, this embodiment is particularlyapplicable to the fabrication of planar MOS transistors. FIGS. 23-27illustrate, in a cross sectional view taken along the line Z-Z in FIG.2, a single planar transistor 402 of IC 400. Many details of thisembodiment are similar to the embodiments described above, so thosedetails will be described only briefly. Similar features will benumbered as above. As illustrated in FIG. 23, planar transistor 402 isformed in a device region 208 in a silicon substrate 210. Device region208 is isolated by shallow trench isolation 212 or other electricalisolation. A well region 216 is formed in the silicon substrate by ionimplantation. Dummy gate structures 228 and 230 are formed overlying thewell region. Raised source and drain structures are formed between thedummy gate structures. The raised source and drain structures can beformed of a strain inducing material such as silicon germanium orsilicon carbon if needed to implement the IC being fabricated. The dummygate structure includes a dummy gate insulator 222, a capping layer 226such as a silicon nitride capping layer, and a polycrystalline silicondummy gate electrode 424. The dummy gate electrode is polycrystallinesilicon in contrast to the silicon germanium dummy gate electrode ofpreviously described embodiments. A thin etch stop layer 444 such as alayer of silicon nitride having a thickness of about 8 nm is depositedto cover the dummy gate structures and the raised source and drainstructures.

A layer of oxide is deposited and planarized to form oxide plugs 446filling the spaces between the dummy gate structures and to remove aportion of etch stop layer 444 overlying capping layer 226. Anotherlayer of oxide 448, such as a layer of TEOS (tetraethyl orthosilicate)oxide is deposited overlying the oxide plugs. A layer of photoresist 450is applied and patterned overlying the layer of oxide as illustrated inFIG. 24.

The patterned layer of photoresist is used as an etch mask and the layerof oxide 448 is patterned, a portion of caps 226 is thinned, a portionof etch stop layer 444 is removed, and oxide plugs 446 are removed asillustrated in FIG. 25. The layer of patterned photoresist is thenremoved and a layer of spin on glass 452 is deposited and curedoverlying the etched structure and filling the space between the dummygate structures.

As illustrated in FIG. 26, the layer of spin on glass is polished, forexample by CMP. The polishing continues until caps 226 are removed,exposing the polycrystalline silicon dummy gate electrodes 424. Aportion 454 of the spin on glass remains between the dummy gatestructures. The polycrystalline silicon is removed by a silicon etchant.The portion of the spin on glass remaining between the dummy gatestructures protects the raised source and drain structures 242 from theetchant.

The method in accordance with this embodiment proceeds with depositing ahigh-k dielectric gate insulator and work function determining materialsin the same manner as illustrated in FIGS. 14-17 except that in thisembodiment the source and drain structures are protected by a spin onglass rather than by polycrystalline silicon 248. After forming the gateinsulator and work function determining material layers, the spin onglass material 454 is removed to expose source and drain regionsadjacent to and self aligned with the channel. Metal silicide contacts268 are formed as illustrated in FIG. 27 in the same manner as describedabove in discussing FIG. 18. FIG. 27 is the same as FIG. 18 except thatFIG. 27 does not illustrate both an N-channel and a P-channel MOStransistor. As illustrated, at this point in the fabrication, transistor402 includes a high-k gate dielectric 252, a work function determiningmetal 258 or 259, and metal silicide contacts 268 self aligned to andspaced apart from a gate region. Thereafter the method proceeds in thesame manner as illustrated in FIGS. 19-20. The source and drain contactsare formed of a metal silicide that is self aligned to the gateelectrodes and, because formed late in the process, are compatible witha high-k gate dielectric/metal gate structure.

While several exemplary embodiments have been presented in the foregoingdetailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number ofvariations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplaryembodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope,applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, theforegoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the artwith a convenient road map for implementing the exemplary embodiment orexemplary embodiments. It should be understood that various changes canbe made in the function and arrangement of elements without departingfrom the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims andthe legal equivalents thereof.

1. A method for fabricating an integrated circuit comprising: etching aplurality of trenches into a silicon substrate and filling the trencheswith an insulating material to delineate a plurality of spaced apartsilicon fins; epitaxially growing a layer of undoped silicon to form anupper, undoped region of the fins; forming dummy gate structuresoverlying and transverse to the plurality of fins; filling between thedummy gate structures with a back fill material; removing the dummy gatestructures to expose a portion of the fins; depositing a high-kdielectric material and a work function determining gate electrodematerial overlying the portion of the fins; removing the back fillmaterial to expose a second portion of the fins after depositing thehigh-k dielectric material and the work function determining gateelectrode material overlying the portion of the fins; forming metalsilicide contacts on the second portion of the fins; and formingconductive contacts to the work function determining material and to themetal silicide.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein epitaxially growing alayer of undoped silicon comprises epitaxially growing a first layer ofsilicon admixed with carbon overlying the plurality of fins and a secondlayer of undoped silicon overlying the first layer.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 wherein epitaxially growing a layer of undoped siliconcomprises: etching the portion of the fin exposed by removing the dummygate structures to form a channel trench; and epitaxially growing alayer of undoped silicon to fill the channel trench.
 4. A method forfabricating an integrated circuit comprising: etching a plurality oftrenches into a silicon substrate and filling the trenches with aninsulating material to delineate a plurality of spaced apart siliconfins; epitaxially growing a layer of undoped silicon to form an upper,undoped region of the fins; forming dummy gate structures overlying andtransverse to the plurality of fins; filling between the dummy gatestructures with a back fill material; removing the dummy gate structuresto expose a portion of the fins; depositing a high-k dielectric materialand a work function determining gate electrode material overlying theportion of the fins; removing the back fill material to expose a secondportion of the fins; forming metal silicide contacts on the secondportion of the fins; and forming conductive contacts to the workfunction determining material and to the metal silicide, wherein formingdummy gate structures comprises: forming a layer of insulator overlyingthe fins; depositing a layer of silicon germanium overlying the layer ofinsulator; depositing a layer of hard mask material overlying the layerof silicon germanium; patterning the layer of hard mask material, layerof silicon germanium, and layer of insulator to form dummy gate stacks;and forming sidewall spacers on the dummy gate stacks.
 5. The method ofclaim 4 further comprising: etching trenches into the plurality of finsusing the dummy gate stacks and sidewall spacers as an etch mask;filling the trenches by a process of selective epitaxial growth of amaterial selected from the group consisting of silicon germanium andsilicon carbon.
 6. The method of claim 4 wherein filling between dummygate structures comprises: depositing silicon between adjacent ones ofthe plurality of dummy gate structures; and planarizing the silicon bychemical mechanical planarization.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein,after removing the dummy gate structures, the method further comprisesetching a portion of the insulating material to expose a portion of eachof the plurality of fins, the portion being a sidewall portion of thefins.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein removing the back fill materialcomprises: depositing a layer of spin on glass; planarizing the layer ofspin on glass to leave a portion of the spin on glass overlying the workfunction determining gate electrode material; and etching the back fillmaterial using the spin on glass as an etch mask.
 9. The method of claim1 wherein forming metal silicide contacts comprises forming nickelsilicide contacts and wherein forming conductive contacts comprisesdepositing and planarizing a metal on both the metal silicide contactsand on the work function determining gate electrode material.
 10. Amethod for fabricating an integrated circuit comprising: in a bulksilicon substrate, forming a first device area and a second device area,the first device area separated from the second device area by shallowtrench isolation; dividing the first device area into a plurality ofspaced apart silicon fins separated by a shallow trench isolationinsulator; epitaxially growing a layer of undoped channel siliconoverlying portions of the first device area and the second device area;forming a first dummy gate overlying and transverse to the fins and asecond dummy gate overlying the second device area; forming dummycontacts spaced apart from and adjacent the first dummy gate and thesecond dummy gate; removing the first dummy gate and the second dummygate; etching the shallow trench isolation insulator to expose a portionof the fins; depositing a layer of gate dielectric material and a layerof work function determining material overlying the undoped channelsilicon; removing the dummy contacts to expose portions of the fins andof the second device area; forming a metal silicide contacting theexposed portions; and forming an electrical contact to the layer of workfunction material and the metal silicide.
 11. The method of claim 10further comprising: doping the first device area and the second devicearea with conductivity determining dopants of a first conductivity type;and implanting ions of second conductivity determining type into thespaced apart fins and into the second device area using the first dummygate and the second dummy gate as ion implantation masks to form sourceand drain regions aligned with the first dummy gate and the second dummygate.
 12. The method of claim 10 wherein epitaxially growing a layer ofundoped channel silicon comprises: epitaxially growing a first layer ofsilicon admixed with carbon overlying the plurality of spaced apartsilicon fins and the second device area; and epitaxially growing asecond layer of undoped silicon overlying the first layer.
 13. Themethod of claim 10 wherein epitaxially growing a layer of undopedchannel silicon comprises: removing the first dummy gate to expose aportion of the fins and removing the second dummy gate to expose aportion of the second device area; etching a first trench into theexposed portion of the fins and a second trench into the exposed portionof the second device area; and epitaxially growing a first layer ofundoped silicon to fill the first trench and a second layer of undopedsilicon to fill the second trench.
 14. The method of claim 10 whereinremoving the dummy contacts comprises: depositing a layer of spin onglass overlying the undoped channel silicon; and etching the dummycontacts using the spin on glass as an etch mask.
 15. The method ofclaim 10 wherein forming a first dummy gate and a second dummy gatecomprises depositing and patterning a layer of silicon germanium. 16.(canceled)
 17. (canceled)
 18. (canceled)
 19. (canceled)
 20. (canceled)21. The method of claim 1 wherein forming dummy gate structurescomprises forming dummy gate structures overlying the layer of undopedsilicon forming the upper, undoped region of the fins and transverse tothe plurality of fins.
 22. The method of claim 1 comprising fillingbetween the dummy gate structures with a back fill material afterepitaxially growing a layer of undoped silicon to form an upper, undopedregion of the fins.
 23. The method of claim 1 comprising removing thedummy gate structures to expose a portion of the fins after epitaxiallygrowing a layer of undoped silicon to form an upper, undoped region ofthe fins.
 24. The method of claim 1 comprising removing the back fillmaterial to expose a second portion of the fins after depositing ahigh-k dielectric material and a work function determining gateelectrode material overlying the portion of the fins.
 25. The method ofclaim 1 wherein forming dummy gate structures overlying and transverseto the plurality of fins comprises: forming dummy gate layers overlyingthe fins; and patterning the dummy gate layers to form dummy gatestacks.